Monday Evening Commute - That's logistics

Good evening

"The District’s long-planned expansion of Capital Bikeshare this fall has hit a snag because the city has been unable to get all of the needed equipment from its supplier, officials said Monday" 54 stations were supposed to be installed this fall, but most of them won't be. The problem is with Bixi. They've been receiving numerous large orders and simultaneously dealing with financial woes. "It’s unclear wether the demand from cities such as New York and Chicago could slow down expansion of Capital Bikeshare."

Or "Sunnyside Avenue in PG County to get Bike Lanes." Another advantage of the new higher bridge is that it would make it easier to extend the Indian Creek Trail past Sunnyside Avenue. I suppose it could eventually go as far north as Ammendale Road. But still, it is hard to understand the reason for the shoulders.

Greenbelt and Beltsville residents are concerned that the Sunnyside widening project is just the first of many attempts to criss-cross the USDA farm area with highways. Sad, since this is one of the few amazingly scenic ride locations nearby, and also a very pleasant place to drive a car, actually. Traffic is usually light, the speed limits are moderate (although now always obeyed), the shoulders are decent in most places, and it's really just a great overall amenity to have some lighly developed, no traffic sewer or strip despoiled places near the beltway. It certainly is a boon for property values and the general attractiveness of our area. Unless the highway department gets its way, of course... The road to slums and neighborhood death is paved with highway department schemes to speed up traffic...

I fear that a failure of Alta/Bixi, leading to problems with CaBi, would be bad for our efforts to make biking more accepted and respected. Its not just CaBi, but the message that it sends: bikes require subsidies, the business model doesnt work, its not a real mode of transit etc. Its just food for the haters.

The bikeshare people have been pretty good at winning contracts they can't deliver on. Hasnt hurt their business though. When one city sees them missing goals in all their other cities, they ignore it and sign up anyway.